Color of a Thousand Miles
by Kerushi-Nee-Chan
Summary: Life itself is a journey that must be travelled, though not all roads lead in the same direction. And as Lakrymosa will soon find out, everyone has their own destiny to follow.
1. Prologue

p r o l o g u e

_..x..x..x..x.._

"Are spiders there?" my friend Haneul asked me as I read out the directions to get to Snowpoint City.

"Yes, Haneul, spiders are there." I sighed, giving her a skeptical look.

"What? I don't want to go in there, all those creepy bug Pokemon!" She spoke up once more, her voice a loud whine in my ear.

I saw Aoi shiver out of the corner of my eye while Haneul continued to give me the pleading look of refusal. Both of the girls disliked spiders (or bugs in general for Haneul), and seeing as though we had to go through Eterna Forest to reach Snowpoint City, we really didn't have a choice. Unless we wanted to go the other way which would take at least a week and a half longer. And I sure wasn't going to go that.

"What I think we should really be worried about is getting lost. You realize how thick that forest is? If we're not careful then we could be stuck in there for days." Aoi spoke up, pointing out the most simple yet important detail of our journey to Snowpoint.

"I don't want to be lost in a forest with creepy bug Pokemon for even _one_ day!" Haneul cried out, her fingers twining themselves at the hem of her Lolita fashioned dress.

"And that's why we have to pay attention when we pass through. The last thing we want is to be walking around in circles." I noted, my Raichu nuzzling against my leg.

"So when are we going to leave? I'm not too sure about you two but I'm tired of this town. All there is is flowers!"

"Oh shush Haneul. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

"Yay! We're going to eat before we leave right? 'Cause I can't travel on an empty stomach"

"Of course, 'cause quite frankly I can't either."

"Oh! And what time are we getting up tomorrow? Because I need _lots _of sleep too, you know that Lakrymosa!"

"Yeah I know. Sleep_ is _important."

Aoi had been quiet through Haneul and my conversation so far until she spoke up. "Shouldn't we be watching our money? We don't have a whole lot last time I checked."

"Yeah how much do we have?" I asked her, Aoi being the one who kept our money.

"Hm well... we have about 1550 Pokemon Dollars."

"That's not a lot"

All of us went quiet for a little while, trying to think of ideas of how to raise money. "I guess we won't be having breakfast tomorrow."

A group of long sighs rang out through the room. "You know, it's a good thing that the Pokemon Center doesn't charge us for rooms. Otherwise we'd be broke by now." Haneul's exhausted comment broke through the silence.

It was quiet again, none of us knowing really what to say. Until Haneul jumped up suddenly, which she did quite often. "Goodnight!" the dark brown haired girl shouted, running off to her room in the small Pokemon Center we were residing in.

Another silence crept in the air as Aoi and I sat on the couch, her Vaporeon and my Raichu laying on the ground at our feet. Aoi twirled a strand of her ebony colored locks between her fingers while I tapped my foot on the ground, unsettled. "Goodnight." we both said in unison.

We both got up and with our Pokemon retreated to our rooms despite the time being a mere 9 pm. After all, we didn't really have anything else to do. And then there's the fact we have a huge journey ahead of us. Heading to Snowpoint City in the north was _not_ going to be easy.


	2. Chapter 1: Fun Maze

c h a p t e r **o n e** [fun maze]

___...x..x..x..x.._

"It's freee~zing in here!" Haneul sobbed, hugging the thin winter jacket she bought while we were in Eterna city this morning.

The tiny pink and black jacket Haneul wore on top of her Lolita dress shouldn't even be called a winter jacket, it was so thin that it looked more like it should be worn on a rainy day. But of course, she had to pick something that matched and dismissed the whole purpose of buying the jacket in the first place.

"Oh come on, it's not _that _cold. Once we get out of here it's gonna be much colder." I noted, digging my hands deeper into the pockets of my black winter jacket.

"Be glad it isn't snowing in here." Aoi piped up, a small giggle bubbling from her which was rare from the quiet 17 year old.

Aoi liked winter and despite growing up in Lavender Town where snow only came when it was suppose to she seemed comfortable with the chilly air in Mt. Coronet. I guess to a degree you could say she was excited, but that was pushing it a bit. Aoi wasn't exactly the excitable energetic type. More like the nervous quiet bookworm type (even though she isn't exactly a bookworm) "But it's still cold! How can you guys stand it in here? How long are we going to be in this stupid mountain anyways? We've been walking for _at least_ two hours!" the dark brunette stopped her ranting to take a deep breathe in, running out of air from her words. "And plus! I got only 8 hours of sleep!"

Haneul sported her puppy dog eyes to me, probably wanting to take a break from all the walking we've been doing. Aoi and I looked at each other with a 'R U SRS?' look before I glanced at my watch which read **12: 37 pm**. To Haneul's disappointment we woke up quite early this morning, so early that we left Floaroma Town at about 6:20 am. The time pretty much put the 15 year old in a crappy mood which made her whine all the while to Eterna City. Especially when we went through Eterna Forest with all of those creepy Pokemon she hated (which thank god we did not get lost in). But we did have breakfast in Eterna City, so that made her quit. At least for the next hour or so anyways. "I'm surprised she's not complaining about the lighting..." I whispered over to Aoi as Haneul strode ahead of us by a few five or so steps.

The ebony haired girl merely nodded with a smile while we continued on our journey. "If you must Haneul, think of this as a... fun maze. Yeah, a fun maze." I spoke up, placing a hand on my hip.

She looked back towards me with a lit up face. "I like fun mazes! They're fun! But this is just a dirty old mountain full of Pokemon." She frown, giving me a displeased look.

"Well maybe you can catch a cute ice Pokemon." I mused.

And with that she had another lit up expression on her face. "Yeah, you're right!" She jumped and gave a twirl with a small squeal.

I laughed lightly at my companion and watch her skip along ahead, just at the rim of where our light shone from Aoi and my Pokemon. Mt. Coronet, if you aren't aware, is pretty much pitch black without lighting. That's why Aoi's Charizard and my Typhlosion were out of their pokeballs, lighting our way in the black insides of the mountain. My Raichu was also out, but my Raichu never liked being in it's pokeball, so ever since I got him as a Pichu, he's always walked around with me at my side. "So how much farther 'till we're our of this cave? We're not lost are we?" Haneul stopped, turning around to face Aoi and I.

I looked over to Aoi who usually kept track of this kind of stuff. Out of everyone here, Aoi was the brains of the group, being the most intelligent out of the three of us. Though it wasn't really surprising, she was the eldest, but that's far from it. She even found out about a small path for us to follow so we wouldn't get lost in the huge mountain. "Half way, more or less. Of we keep following the small trail we should get there within at least an hour, maybe sooner." she stated simply, hesitating before answering our question. "B-but I could be wrong."

She disliked it when Haneul and I would stare at her, it would make her all nervous and such. Which I thought was quite cute since she was a 17 year old girl who had a lot of talent and seemed almost perfect. I mean, she was smart, a great pokemon trainer, a good singer, great at making little gadgets, and of course she was very pretty. The only thing she lacked was some self confidence, sadly, but since Haneul and I were here, we could always help her with that. "Don't worry Aoi, we trust you. After all, you are the brains of the group!" I smiled towards her giving her a thumbs up.

"T-thanks Lakrymosa."

With that we started walking once again, the cave's temperature getting colder as we continued on. Luckily we had only run into a few weak Pokemon since we had entered the mountain. Though despite that, I wasn't about to take my guard down, I knew that a lot of strong pokemon could be lurking around. "Rai rai!" I looked down to Raichu who was nuzzling my leg, spreading his short arms out in a gesture for me to pick him up.

I smiled and grabbed onto the orange fluff ball of affection and held him against my chest, his feet dangling helplessly. Despite being furry, he wasn't warm, he was a bit cold but I wasn't surprised the least bit. Raichu were forest Pokemon, not mountain ones. "Hey! I just realized something!" Haneul suddenly shouted, grabbing all of our attention.

"H-haneul..! You shouldn't shout..." Aoi scolded quietly with a small blush on her cheeks. The outburst, to say the least, made her jump and she grew embarrassed from her actions. "We don't want to disturb any Pokemon and get ourselves in trouble."

"Ooo~h, okay!" Haneul whispered back exaggeratedly. "Well anyways, I realized that we haven't had lunch yet!"

I deadpanned at the petite girl who only seemed to have two things on her mind: sleep and food. Though this was Haneul, so we all merely nodded and continued on our journey. It was quiet for awhile and I liked that, I gazed around the trail at the amazing mountain, taking in its sharp jagged point and small holes that Pokemon had made homes in. To say the least it was quite beautiful. "Hey Aoi. Are you going to use the Ninetails you recently caught against the gym leader in Snowpoint?" I asked her, giving her another smile.

She looked towards me and and smiled lightly and looked down. "Do you think I should. I mean, I wouldn't want to push it, I just caught her and the Snowpoint gym leader I heard is quite strong. Do you think...?" she spoke quietly, a small smile still on her face.

"Of course! You need to bond with Ninetails, let her know you care about her, and if you choose her to be in such an important battle that'll let her know that you believe in her. Don't forget Aoi, you _have_ used her in some battles. She's not useless."

She looked at me and back to her feet again, her smile bigger than before. "You're right, I should. Thanks again Lakrymosa."

"No problem!"

"Oh and Lakrymosa..." her facial expression turned to a confused yet slightly worried one.

"Yeah...?" I asked, raising my brow in confusion.

"Where's Haneul?"

"Haneul?" I looked around our surroundings of the small trail, now aware that the young brunette was not in site. "H-haneul? Where is she?"

"Haneul where are you?" Aoi called out quietly, trying not to disturb the Pokemon living in the mountain.

"Haneul? Haneul! Where are you?"

Charizard and Typhlosion tried to make the brightness of their flames extend as far as they could, but still no Haneul was in site. "Haneul? Han- !"

A little ahead of us a noise was heard, like something fallling. "Haneul?"

Aoi and I ran ahead to the noise followed by Charizard and Typhlosion. Around a small corner was Haneul on the ground along with some shiny items in her hands. "Haneul! What are you doing?" I asked her leaning down to make sure she was okay.

"Oh, hey guys! Look what I found!" Haneul jumped up and held out her hands.

Inside were a few pokeballs along with a few nuggets. I cocked a brow at this. "And I have some rare candies in pockets too! Isn't this lucky~!"

"Yeah, but where did you find them? And why were you on the ground?" I asked her, Aoi standing beside me patiently.

"Oh well you see, I found them up top there!" She pointed upwards onto a ledge. "And I was on the ground 'cause I fell obviously."

She began to laugh and I still had and eyebrow cocked while Aoi suddenly had a worried expression. "I think that was a Pokemon's nest you got those from Haneul..." Aoi spoke, a quiver in her voice slightly.

Haneul's face held a questionable look while mine turned grim. "Oh, really? Must has been a Clefairy or something like that." she laughed again, completely oblivious to the matter.

"Haneul, hate to burst your bubble but... Clefairy can't get up there. That's too high of a place for them to reach." I spoke, becoming worried a little bit.

"Then what kind of Pokemon do you think it was...?"

"Well it was probably- "

"_Kewewewewewewewew_!"

Haneul gave a yelp as a scared look came onto her face. Aoi and I turned around to face a huge Golbat, that looked very angry. "Uh-oh..." Aoi whispered, taking a step back.

"It's just a Golbat! Don't worry, we can take it!" I narrowed my eyes, about to tell my Typhlosion to attack it until a louder noise seemed to surround us.

"Uh... wh-what is that?" I asked now taking a step back myself, along with Charizard and Typhlosion.

"I-If I'm n-not mistaken..." Aoi started, her voice now quivering a bit. "Th-that would be... more Golbat."

Appearing in our view of light was hundreds of Golbat, all looking very angry. "W-what now you guys..?" Haneul whispered, shaking behind the two of us.

"Well I don't know about you... but I say we run." I whispered back, hoping to dear god the don't suddenly attack us before we even have time to finish our simple plan.

"Agreed." Aoi nodded, along with the our two fire Pokemon companions.

"Okay so on three. One, two- "

"Kyaaaaaaaaah!" Haneul rushed past us and ran into no particular direction I was guessing, anywhere but here that is.

"Haneul!" And so the rest of us ran with her, along with the tens of thousands of crazy Golbat chasing us.

"Aoi! A plan would be good now! Where's the exit?" Haneul cried out, running as fast as her short legs could carry her.

"I don't even know where we are now!" she replied, sounding somewhat like a sob.

"Aaaaaagggghhh!"

It was then that luck turned for us. In a bad way of course, it just_ had _to be a bad way. "Agh! Dead end! We're doomed! End of the line! It's all oveeeer!" Haneul sobbed, crying against the stone wall which blocked our further escape from the angry bat pokemon. "I don't wanna be bat foooooooooood!"

"Th-th-this isn't the end!" I replied, stuttering a bit which was a bit out of character for me.

"It's been nice knowing you guys!" Haneul cried out again, tears at the corner of her eyes. "J-just so you know, y-you guys are the be-bestest friends I've ever h-haaaad!"

"Um.. u-uh, uhhh," I looked over to Aoi, who looked pretty freaked out as well. I gestured over to Charizard and Typhlosion, who looked pretty freaked out as well, but tried their best to look fierce. "T-typhlosion! Flame wheel, go!"

"Ch-charizard, F-fire spin!"

The two large fire pokemon then stood up tall and let out a roar. Backing up the Golbat a bit, they then used their moves on the flying Pokemon. Charizard let out a huge fire spin, aiming for the Golbat at the sides and the highest while Typhlosion aimed for the ones in front of us. "An opening! Quick! Run!" I yelled, all of running the way we had just came.

Running quickly we turned a sharp corner, taking a trail that led down a steep slope. "Oh no! A waterfall! We're trapped again!" Haneul cried, for about the hundredth time.

There in front of us was nothing pretty much. At our side was the river part of the waterfall which led downwards to our demise. "Quick, get on Charizard!" Aoi spoke, getting onto her Charizard.

"But they'll just catch us!" Haneul pointed out, the sound of wings flapping getting louder and louder by the second.

"We gotta jump in the water!" I shouted suddenly.

"What! Are you crazy Lakrymosa?"

"No she's right. But get on Charizard first, we'll jump when we reach the ground at the bottom so we won't hurt ourselves." Aoi said, taking charge of the situation which was rare, but not unheard of.

"Return Typhlosion!" I shouted, a red beam coming out from the pokeball I had just grabbed from my small Drifloon backpack.

Typhlosion disappeared into the pokeball and I put it back into my bag, jumping onto Aoi's Charizard we quickly took off. Charizard was fast which was good, quickly sending us across the lake the waterfall poured into. We landed, jumped off, and Aoi returned him into his pokeball quickly. "Ok quick, stay down as long as possible!" I shouted getting ready to jump into the ice cold water.

"But it's freezing! We'll die!" Haneul shouted back in protest.

"Would you rather be sucked out dry of your blood like a juice box?" I questioned, Haneul quickly shook her head.

"Okay, one, two, three!" We all jumped and dispersed into the freezing waters of Mt. Coronet.


	3. Chapter 2: The Least of Our Problems

c h a p t e r **t w o** [the least of our problems]

___...x..x..x..x.._

We emerged from the ice cold waters and crawled onto the shore of the small lake we had recently jumped into for escape. Breathing heavily from lack of air, I got up shakily onto my feet and looked around my surroundings, Raichu also soaked at my side. No Golbat in site, only the three of us (and Raichu). I sighed in relief, knowing that the chase was now over, for the moment anyways. "Finally they're gone! I thought they would never leave, I was about to drown!" Haneul cried out, ringing out her dark brown locks of water.

"Ssshh!" Aoi and I shushed harshly, knowing that the Golbat could possibly use ultrasound at any moment to detect us.

"Sorry!" Haneul whispered back. "Okay, so where are we? I can't see much!"

Haneul was right, this area of Mt. Coronet wasn't very bright. It was bright enough to be able to see most of our surroundings quite clearly in the dark but it would be hard to pinpoint things like holes in the ground from Pokemon and distinguishing a Geodude from a normal boulder. I looked over to Aoi and she nodded both of us taking out our pokeballs that contained Charizard and Typhlosion. "Come on out!"

We threw the pokeballs up into the air and it flashed with a white light that bounced onto the ground and eventually revealed our Pokemon. The pokeballs returned to our hands and we put them back, Typhlosion and Charizard immediately using their flames to light up the area we were in. The area we were in was a big opening, the lake and waterfall behind us and in front of us a large open area with two tunnels. Immediately I frowned at the site. "This isn't good." I mumbled, scooping Raichu back into my arms despite how soaked the poor electric mouse pokemon was.

"Why? What isn't good?" Haneul asked, giving me a somewhat horrified look.

"Look." Aoi pointed towards the two tunnels.

The brunnette was quiet for a few seconds then spoke. "Yeah, and...? Two tunnels, big deal."

Aoi and I deadpanned at her obliviousness once again. "Haneul, obviously we can't go back the way we came. We could, but we've lost the trail already and it will be nearly impossible to find it." Aoi spoke calmly, her brows furrowed in displeasure.

Haneul's mouth hung open, another look of horror crawling slowly onto her features. "And so..." I started, finishing Aoi's statement. "We have to take one of these tunnels. Either one of them could be a dead end or we could get lost even deeper in the Mountain. Also, there are the Golbat to consider. They went down _one_ of these tunnels and so our chances of running into them again are half and half."

Now Haneul's hands were on her cheeks, adding dramatic effect to her look of horror. She looked like she had seen the end of the world, and quite possibly, she could be right (for us anyways). "Anyways, right now we have to focus on warming up. We can't travel any further with these soaked clothes or else we could catch anmonia." Aoi pointed out, signalling for her Charizard to increase its flame on its tail.

The flame blazed wild and burning hot on the lizards tail and so I signalled for Typhlosion to do the same, the flames around his neck starting to rage. We all took our coats off and layed them down near our Pokemon so they could dry faster. Charizard and Typhlosion layed down, knowing we would be here for a bit to dry up and so we sat near them as well. "So what now? We just sit and wait for our clothes to dry?" Haneul asked, a frown apparent on her face.

"Pretty much." I sighed, stroking Raichu who lye soundlessly in my lap.

It was handy to have fire Pokemon on hand, especially in a moment like this. Even if they were the only ones we had, they were more then good enough. Of course, Haneul didn't have any fire Pokemon on hand, Haneul only caught ice and electric Pokemon which had begun as a habit since she was little. The only sound that resonated through out the area of the mountain we were in was the loud rush of the waterfall and the sound of the flickering fire. I was surprised a bit, for once Haneul was quiet. But there really wasn't anything to say at this moment. My clothes were almost dry, my dress shirt and tie were completely dry along with my backpack. My winter jacket was still a bit wet and my jeans and coat were just damp. "Are you guys almost dry?" I asked, feeling a bit sleepy from the waves of heat bouncing around me.

"A bit." Aoi spoke, lying against her Charizard with Haneul next to her.

"Almost..." Haneul then replied, rubbing her arms as her dress was pretty much sleeveless despite the two pieces of material that covered the end of her shoulders.

Once again we all went silent, content looks on our face. I didn't realize how tired out I was until now, I just wanted to fall asleep right here and now. Though of course, I knew that if I did that that it would be quite dangerous. Mountain Pokemon are different than forest Pokemon, they become angered much more easily. There's also the Golbat to consider, _again_. If we were to rest here for the night then they could possibly just fly by us and suck us dry of our blood. And if that happened we'd probably die. I then looked over to my watch but nothing showed up on the screen, it had probably shorted out when we had jumped into the lake. Running some fingers through the tangled strands of hair that fell from my puffy pigtails I wondered how long it would take to find the exit now that we were lost. The longer we were in here the longer it would take us to reach Snowpoint City and to get the gym badge. But I guess we weren't in any real rush, it's not like we had a time limit or anything. Vivid words sounded in my head of a conversation I had heard in Eterna City. I was just stopping by the Poke Mart while Aoi and Haneul went to buy winter jackets when I had heard another trainer talking about the mysterious event which had been bouncing in my head all day. To say the least, I was greatly intrigued and curious of the rumour.

_'Hey did you hear the big news? They say that all the Pokemon Leagues are coming together to create one huge National Competition! I heard that all the Gym Leaders of the regions are suppose to be going there too! It's suppose to start in a month or two!'_

"Aaaaggghhh! I can't take it anymore! I hate this stupid mountain! I hate those stupid Golbat! And I hate waiting around here with _no food_!" Haneul shouted at the top of her lungs suddenly, startling Aoi and I.

"Haneul! What are you doing?" I spoke, getting up to try and calm her down.

She kicked a relatively big boulder and starting trying to punch it. "This is ridiculous! Those stupid Golbat! Who do they think they are?" She yelled more, finally pushing the big rock (despite how petite she was) into the lake.

"Haneul! Sshhh!" Aoi and I shouted, trying to get her to be quiet.

The rock falling down to the bottom of the lake could be heard hitting the side, quite loudly in fact. It was now quiet and Haneul's shoulders were heaving and she was taking deep breathes, an angry look on her face. "You done?" I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She was quiet for a few seconds before replying. "...Yeah." She took in a deep breathe and let it out, sitting down once again.

Typhlosion, Charizard, and Raichu looked at Haneul like she was crazy, which I can't honestly blame them for. She could get a _little _crazy at times... okay, maybe a lotta crazy, but hey, that's Haneul for you.

A rumble resounded through out mountain, Zubat and Golbat flying from the tunnels hazardly, some were even flying into each other. "...Uh-oh." the blue-eyed girl whispered.

"What is that?" Aoi asked to no one in particular, standing up with a worried look.

Our Pokemon companions growled and gave nasty looks towards the lake, the top of the water looking as if it was bouncing. The rumbling abruptly stopped, distant flaps of bat Pokemons wings could now only be heard. "That's never a good sign." I whispered, Typhlosion and Raichu growled towards the lake as they stood beside me, sensing danger.

The rumbling started again, even louder than before. The sound almost pained my ears and I noticed the bubbles rushing to the surface of the lake. "Look!" I shouted, pointing towards the lake as Aoi and Haneul followed my gaze.

Water suddenly splashed everyone, as if a bomb had gone off and a figure errupted from the surface, it's long body towering of us as if we were ants. Haneul gave a shriek as I gasped, taking a step back in reflex. "G-g-g-gyarados." Aoi whispered, barely even audable to my ears.

The Gyarados roared* in warning, his teeth gleaming as the flame from our Pokemon reflected off of it in an ominous manner. He then opened his mouth again, probably readying for an attack. "It's going to attack!" Aoi shouted suddenly grabbing our attention. "Move!"

Just then the Gyarados launched a Hydro Pump at us, all of us jumping out of the way as water hit the ground at a dangerously hard and fast rate. Water rained down on us and I got up from the ground in a rushed manner, looking for Typhlosion and Raichu. Raichu was not far from me, seeing he was unharmed much to my pleasure. Unfortunately, Typhlosion, along with Charizard, were not as lucky. "Typhlosion!"

"Charizard!"

Aoi and I rushed over to our fainted pokemon, our winter jackets which were once dry now soaked again. Bringing out our pokeballs they returned back to the white and red orbs. "Of _course_! We just _had _to meet one of the most dangerous Pokemon out here, when we are most vulnerable, that is supposedly rarely ever seen in the wild!" Haneul screamed in frustration at the blue sea dragon.

"What do we do now?" Aoi looked over to me, fear in both of our eyes.

"Run!"

All three of us grabbed our soaked winter jackets and ran into whatever tunnel was closest to us just as the wild Gyarados tried to practically eat us. Rocks flew and it gave a cry that echoed through out the tunnel as we ran deeper in. "What are we gonna do? That thing is just going to chase after us!" Haneul said, pointing out an obvious point.

"Just keep running! That's all we can do!" I spoke, running faster with Raichu at my side.

We could hear boulders crashing in the distance and could tell that the Gyarados was hot on our tail, wasting no time chasing after us and wreaking havoc at the same time.

'_Gyarados. The Atrocious Pokemon. The evolved form of Magikarp. Rarely seen in the wild. Huge and vicious, it is capable of destroying entire cities in a rage. Can fire a Hyper Beam from its mouth.'_

"Lakrymosa! Why don't you just use Raichu against him? I'll send out my Jolteon and Pikachu as well and we can take it on!" Haneul spoke to me, raising her fist in determination.

"I don't think that'll work! That Gyarados is super strong, it easily defeated Typhlosion _and _Charizard with one hit, and they were some of our strongest Pokemon!" Raichu gave a small growl at me in protest to what I had just said. "No offense to Raichu, Jolteon, or Pikachu, but I doubt that it'll work!"

"I agree. Gyarados are one of the most dangerous Pokemon to encounter in the wild. They won't stop raging until everything is destroyed! I think that if we want to get out of this alive, we have to find the exit!" Aoi stated, using her great intellect and wit to analyze the situation quickly.

"Right!"

"But how are we going to find the exit?" Haneul asked, her breathing becoming heavy from the running we had done.

"That, I do not know. Sorry." Aoi gave a dissappointed look and shook her head is disdain.

"Wait! Do you think...? Is it possible that if I sent Dragonair out that she could sense a flow of wind and find the exit?" I asked Aoi, knowing she would have the answer, or at least an educated guess from my scenario.

"It's a possibility! Try it, and hurry! There's a fork in the road up ahead."

Sure enough there was a fork in the road, the tunnel had taken was now splitting into, not two, but three different directions which increased our chances of getting lost in the maze of Mt. Coronet. "Alright! Come on out Dragonair!" I shouted throwing the pokeball ahead of me.

A white light came out and the pokeball returned to me, Dragonair now appeared and flew by our side as we ran the area lighting up slightly from the orb around her neck. We stopped in fron of the three different tunnels, all of gasping for a breather. "Okay! Dragonair, can you help us? We need you to tell us which direction is the exit by sensing the flow of a wind current."

"Ooo~"

Dragonair stayed absolutely still, despite the noise from the angered Gyarados growing louder. I kept quiet and let Dragonair try and focus, her eyes closed and focused. "Ooo~!"

Dragonairs winged ears twitched and her head turned to the tunnel on the right, lowering her body in a gesture for us to get on. Dragonair was surprisingly calm in this situation considering that the Gyarados was now in our view down the tunnel. Though I myself seemed calmer thanks to her, as her aura had that effect on people. "Thankyou Dragonair!" I grabbed Raichu as all three of us got onto her back.

With that we flew off at a fast speed, the wind grabbing at our hair. Gyarados was not far behind. We turned corner after corner and went through dozens of different tunnels, all of this in the amount of less than 5 minutes. As I tried to focus on the Gyarados and where we were going the Gyarados gave out another cry, seeming to become even more enraged by his so far useless chase. "There! The exit!" Haneul shouted, though I barely heard from the wind in my ears.

We came into an opening, the roof being huge and the exit being small compared to it. Gyarados soon followed us in the opening and stopped his chase, though an awful feeling came over me. "He's stopped chasing us!" Haneul pointed out, her voice sounding hopeful.

"It's going to use Hyper Beam!" Aoi then shouted, a horrified look on her face.

"What?"

When I glanced back, beams were gathering in it's mouth, his attack was going to be devistating. "Dragonair, hurry!" I urged as she replied with a sound and flew as fast as she could.

The exit became closer and it seemed almost as if we were home free when Gyarados blasted his Hyper Beam at the top of the exit. "Oh no! We're not going to make it!" Haneul sobbed, grabbing on tighter to the back of my jacket.

"Yes we are!"

Rocks fell and piled ontop of one another at the exit, the light dissappearing slowly. And just as the small area at the mouth of the exit was about to be filled, Dragonair slipped through, along with all of us and Raichu. Just as we got out Dragonair hit the ground, and hard, all of us falling off onto the snow covered earth. Raichu was still in my grasp, held tightly against my chest and I immediately got up, looking over to Dragonair who lye in the snow, crying out in pain. "Dragonair!" I rushed over to Dragonair, kneeling down beside her.

Near her tail was a big red mark that began to bleed, her cries becoming more painful sounding to me than ever. She must have been hit by a boulder while going through the exit! "Oh no... Dragonair..." I looked towards her face, pain evident in her eyes. "Thankyou so much Dragonair... don't worry. I will get you help, just hold on, please..." and with that I returned her to her pokeball, her body being absorbed into the red beam and dissappearing.

Hearing a few groans I looked up, Aoi and Haneul getting up all covered in snow. "Are you guys okay?" I asked, getting up once more.

"Yeah we're good. How's Dragonair?" Aoi asked, her brows furrowed.

"We need to get to a Pokemon Center... and fast." I looked down towards the pokeball in hand, my eyes narrowed.

"Alright."

"Um... you guys?" I heard Haneul speak up, her voice hinting concern.

"Yeah?" We turned to her, a nervous look on her face.

"Look." she pointed out towards the distance, in the direction that held Snowpoint City.

Not too far ahead was a dark foreboding blizzard. Snow blazing and wind lashing in all it's fearful glory. I swear my heart skipped a beat, the idea of heading to a Pokemon Center soon slightly vanishing. "Well it seems..." Aoi spoke, swalling a lump in her throat. "That that Gyarados was the least of our problems."

"It's also getting dark." Haneul said with a frown, looking at the dark grey sky. "And I'm getting cold!"

I looked over to Haneul who only had her dress on, her soaked winter jacket in her hands. Walking over to her I handed her my uniform jacket that was pretty much dry. "Thanks Lakrymosa!"

Nodding I looked back towards the blizzard that begged us to challenge it. "Let's hurry!"

We all kept up our pace as we inched closer to the storm, Raichu still held against my chest. We all probably felt it, the fear that the storm errupted in our hearts. We all were probably considering which was worse; being eaten by a Gyarados or freezing to death. Neither sounded enjoyable. "The storm looks thick, we could get lost." Aoi stopped in her tracks, a worried expression on her face. "We should tie ourselves together with rope. Do either of you have any?"

My ears perked up and a small grin appeared on my face. I had boughten some rope when I went to the Poke Mart in Eterna City! Something to make up for our soaked winter jackets possibly (though the winter jackets would increase our chance of survival... I shouldn't say things like that). "I do! Quick, the faster we get it on the faster we get to a Pokemon Center." I quickly set down Raichu and pulled the rope from my Drifloon shaped mini backpack, handing it to Aoi.

Haneul was the first to tie it around her waist (who had some difficulty) as she ended up being at the end of the rope. Next was Aoi, then myself, and just in case, I tied to around Raichu as well. "Okay, everyone ready!"

"Ready!"

"Let's go!"

With that we trudged into the fierce blizzard, the wind and snow quickly nipping at my exposed neck and cheeks. I felt sorry for Aoi and Haneul who had their legs from the knee's down exposed to the cold. But none the less, we urged on, our determination burning inside. I felt the tug on the rope as the wind was strong but I held my ground. I wasn't going to be defeated! My Pokemon needed my help and we needed to get to Snowpoint City, to stop now would only mean death. Raichu shivered against me and hid his face in my neck. Raichu was a furry Pokemon, but his fur wasn't built for the harsh winters of the Snowpoint area, so my hold on him only tightened, not wanting any harm to come to my partner and friend. A tug on my rope prompted me to stop and turn around, Haneul on her knee's with Aoi at her side. Getting closer to them I had to shout over the howling of the wind. "What's happened?"

"Haneul's ankle is hurt!"

"I'm sorry Lakrymosa!"

"It's alright! But we can't stop! Haneul bring out your Ampharos! It's the only one that's able to carry you!"

"O-okay! Come on out, Ampharos!" Haneul reached into the pouch on her dress and brought out a pokeball immediately releasing the electric pokemon inside.

Ampharos was a bit shorter than Haneul, but it was a strong Pokemon that would help her out. Ampharos looked at Haneul worriedly, coming to her side. With a few gestures that Haneul made, she crawled onto Ampharos' back and we were on our way once more. We had the rope tied onto Ampharos as well, being glad it was long enough. The journey was getting harder and harder as we went and I had concluded that we now had reached the eye of the storm. My whole body was almost completely numb and my vision was getting worse along with Aoi's, Haneul and her Ampharos were having their difficulties as well. Even though we were in the center of the massive blizzard I thought that things could only get better, after all, the eye of the storm is always the worst right..? Yes, but in this case, no. As we traveled onwards more I did not notice the steep we had come to, giving a shriek I slipped and we all tumbled downwards. It was all a blur on the way down, even if it wasn't a hard fall or a very deep steep. When I got to my senses, my whole body burned and quite honestly, I didn't want to get up. Though my determination flared and I got up slowly, my face, wrists and knees hurting the most out of everywhere else on my body. Raichu lye right in front of my a pained look on his face. "Rai rai..."

"Raichu!" I looked crawled over to him and held him closer to me, thinking that I might just might squeze him to death. "I'm sorry Raichu! This is all my fault, I hope you forgive me. I was too stubborn... I'm sorry..." I almost sobbed, a warm tear falling down my cheek, stinging all the way and finally freezing as it reached my chin.

The wind blew hard against my hair, the ends fully frozen along with my bangs. They stung as the brushed against my skin, this journey seeming to become a living nightmare. I looked back towards the rope and found Aoi fully collapsed on the ground, her exposed legs red and probably frost bitten. "Aoi!" I crawled over to her as well, placing my hand on her shoulder, shaking it. "Come on Aoi! You have to wake up! It can't end here!"

No response came from her and a sob escaped my lips, immediately biting my lower lip. Then her eyes fluttered open, showing her dark purple orbs lazily glance over to me showing her mental and physical pain. "Lakry...mosa... I can't.. I just can't.. I'm sorry." she whispered, her hand held in mine. They were frozen.

"No! Get up! Come on Aoi, I thought you hated people who gave up! Aoi Hakumei does not give up! Get up!"

No response.

I looked around for some sort of imaginary help that some silly part of me thought would be there. But nothing, just Ampharos lying down on the frozen wasteland. Thoughts in my head then rushed at light speed and one seemed to scream in my head. Where was Haneul? "Haneul! Haneul! Where are you Haneul!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, not noticing that Raichu had passed out in my arms.

I tried to stand up but my knees only cracked and I collapsed back into the snow. "Haneul! _HANEUL!_"

My screams were lost against the sound of the wind, the laughter of the boisterous and proud blizzard that had won. Raichu lay beside me in his small form, looking liking he was merely asleep. But of course he wasn't, he had passed out from the pain of the cold blizzard. As I sunk into the snow, my cheek burning as it rubbed against the white frozen liquid that covered the area. And then tears fell. I couldn't stop them as they did, nor as they burned and eventually froze.

Was this the end? Was our journey now over and done with? It sure seemed like it. It would end here, with my partners and friends. We will never get to Snowpoint City and win that badge. Nor will we ever get to the Sinnoh Elite Four. But everyone's journey has to end somewhere. And I guess this is where ours ends.


	4. Chapter 3: When We First Met :: 4 Years

c h a p t e r **t h r e e** [when we first met: four years]

___...x..x..x..x.._

**Four Years Ago| Cerulean City**

"Oh noooo~" a young girl sobbed quietly in front of a closed Pokemon Center, clutching an Abra close to her chest in the rain. "W-what are we gonna do now Enigma?"

The Abra named Enigma said nothing to the girls question and merely shook his head slowly. The girl and her companion Pokemon has just come into Cerulean City mere moments ago, running straight to the Pokemon Center to shield themselves from the rain. Unfortunately to their dismay it was closed for obvious reason, the roof was practically blown right off. The girl, who looked no older than maybe 10, with straight cut light green hair that went to her waist, looked at the Pokemon Center with another sorrowful look. "Now what are we going to do?" she mumbled as she fell to her knees in front of the building, tears gathering at the corner of her large light blue eyes.

Engima made a sound which was rare and instantly teleported the two of them.

"Wh-wh-whaaaat?" The girl screamed in a shrilly voice, appearing in the sky about 20 feet above the ground with the small Abra still in hand.

Her screams increased as she plumetted to the ground at a fast speed, her life flashing before her tear-filled eyes.

"_Pidgeooooot_!"

Before she hit the hard cement ground a large Pidgeot swooped down and caught them, the young girl and the Abra landing on the Pidgeot's feathery back safely. Though very relieved the young girl was startled to say the least, sitting on the bird pokemon's back while staring bewildered at the new pokemon and her surroundings. "Alright! Good job Pudgy!" a loud and high-pitched voice called out.

"_Pidgeot! Pidgeooot!"_

The green-haired girl looked down to the ground below, an equally young girl with short brown hair, big round glasses, and a pink and black dress on waved to her, a big smile on her face. "Hi there!" she yelled as the Pidgeot began to descend to the ground.

The green-haired girl merely waved back, her face still showing some shock. As the Pidgeot landed the brown-haired girl ran up and petted it on the head. "Good job Pudgy!" she giggled, then turning her attention to the green-haired girl who began to climb slowly off the large bird pokemon.

The two girls stared at eachother for a few seconds, their Pokemon doing the same. The silence was very awkward, for the green-haired girl at least, so she decided to break the silence. "H-hi..." she murmured, offering the other girl a small smile.

"Hi! I'm Haneul! What's your name?" the brown-haired girl practically shouted, introducing herself as Haneul.

The other girl gave a small jump at the loudness of Haneul. It was definitely something she wasn't use to. "M-my name's Lakrymosa. Nice to meet you." the green-haired girl, now known as Lakrymosa bowed politely. "And this is Enigma..." she gestured towards the Abra in her arms.

"Oh hi there!" Haneul shouted once more, but towards the Abra making it jump. "This is Pudgy! 'Cause you know, he's pudgy..."

The brown-haired girl poked the Pidgeot's chest and Lakrymosa merely sweatdropped. "S-so... Haneul, are you going to have a Pokemon battle against the gym leader here?" Lakrymosa asked meekly.

"Yuppers! And I'm going to win too! Nothing can stop me!" she exclaimed, a huge grin on her face as she jumped up and down once more. "You too Lakrymosa!"

Lakrymosa nodded and smiled, maybe this was someone who Lakrymosa could befriend on her journey through Kanto. "Oh! So, just a question. Why were you falling out of the sky?" Haneul questioned, a clueless look on her face.

The green-haired girl looked to Haneul then to her Abra, who tilted it's head to side in an innocent gesture. "Well you see, I was going to check in at the Pokemon Center, but it was closed. So I was just standing there and then Enigma teleported me here." Lakrymosa stated with a nod. "He's still new to teleporting so he's not all that good at it. But you know what they say, 'Practice makes perfect'."

She laughed lightly as her companion nodded at her story. "Oh! Okay, I get it now. So I take it you don't have a place to stay do you?" the brown-haired girl asked, suddenly grabbing Lakrymosa by the shoulders.

"N-no..." she shook her head slowly, uncomfortable with the physical contact a bit.

"Well then why don't you come stay with me? I'm staying at my cousins here for now while I'm in town!" Haneul jabbed her thumb to her chest, a grin on her face as her deep blue eyes were wide with excitement.

"A-are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude..." Lakrymosa trailed off, looking off to the side.

"Nonsense! Now come on!"

* * *

"I'm back!" Haneul yelled into the house that her and her companion just entered, both slipping off their shoes.

They walked into the living room, and to say the least it was a 'normal' looking house. Nothing really special about it, though it did have a comfy feel to it; a lot different from Lakrymosa's home. Footsteps came from what Lakrymosa guessed was the kitchen off the left of the living room and a woman who looked to be about her mid 20's with long light brown hair and green eyes came into view, a large grin similiar to Haneul's on her face. "Haneul! Welcome back sweetie, how was training? Oh! Who's your friend?" she asked, her voice high pitched yet had a sweet tone to it.

"Training was good. Iseul, I want you to meet Lakrymosa, I met her in town and we became quick friends! I was wondering, is it alright if she stays with us? She has no where to go..." Haneul asked, eyes pleading with a small smile on her face.

"Of course! Are you a Pokemon trainer like my cousin?" Iseul asked Lakrymosa, cocking her head to the side.

The young green-haired girl merely nodded, bowing deeply with a nervous smile. "Yes I am. Thankyou so much for letting me stay her, I will try to not to be an inconvenience." she stated, a small blush on her face.

"Ah! Such manners, Haneul, why can't you be polite and soft-spoken like your friend here...?" Haneul's cousin asked her, the younger brunette's face growing red.

Haneul gave a nervous laugh and scratched the back of her neck. "Hehe, oh that just wouldn't be me Iseul, you know that~" she merely replied.

Iseul laughed and turned around to go back into the kitchen but not before looking back to the girls. "Well supper will be ready in about a half an hour. Why don't you show Lakrymosa the rest of your Pokemon Haneul? Their in the back." she added, disappearing back into the other room.

"Oh yeah! Good idea, come on Lakrymosa! To the backyard!" Haneul jumped up, grabbing the other pokemon trainers wrist and dragging her to behind the house.

Opening the door to the back revealed a large lush garden that was being watered by two Vileplume and a large water fountain near the corner, the whole backyard being surrounded by a sky blue picket fence. By the fountain were three other pokemon as well, the ones Lakrymosa presumed to belong to Haneul. The largest was a Lapras, who seemed to be enjoying the sun and sipped daintely from the water fountain, an obvious smile on her face. The second was a small Horsea that splashed happily in the fountain, every now and then diving underneath and such. And lastly was a small Eeevee which, at the site of Haneul, jumped off the edge of the fountain and ran into her arms. "Did you miss me Eevee?" the brunette giggled, the small Eevee licking at her face.

Lakrymosa smiled and looked down to my own partner and friend, Enigma. "Lakrymosa I want to introduce you to Eevee." Haneul held out Eevee, a happy look on it's face.

"Hello," she greeted, bowing lightly.

"And the others too~." she paused and gestured for the other girl to follow her to the fountain. "This is Shooter, I caught him awhile ago." she pointed to the Horsea splashing in the water. "And this is Island."

She looked at the Lapras that Haneul called Island. "What an... odd name." Lakrymosa murmured, cocking my head slightly to the side.

The green-haired girls new friend merely giggled and petted the Lapras on the head. "Yeah, I guess. But whatever, I think it's cute."

Only nodding to her she then quickly looked to Lakrymosa, eyes big with excitement. "What about your Pokemon Lakrymosa? Can I see them?" she asked, jumping up and down with the Eevee still in her arms.

"Sure," she stated softly, taker her backpack off and taking out three pokeballs. "Come on out everyone!"

She threw the pokeballs into the air and light spurted out revealing three pokemon Haneul had never seen before. Haneul let out a noise that sounded like a gasp and 'ooh~' mixed together, taking a hesitant step towards the foreign Pokemon. "Wow... Amazing! I've never seen these kind of Pokemon before, well, except for the Misdreavius! But still, wow!" the brown-haired girl exlaimed, a wide grin on her face as she stared at the floating purple mass and the two unfamiliar Pokemon.

"Oh you know about Misdreavius? But I'm not surprised about the other Pokemon. These Pokemon aren't from Kanto or Johto region." Lakrymosa merely noted, her Pokemon gathering to her feet.

"Yeah, I'm from Violet City what about you? Also how did you get them?" her friend asked, eyes glittering.

"I see. I'm from Ecruteak City." Lakrymosa paused, looking at her Pokemon friends. "Well, Abra was my first Pokemon I caught and before I got here to Kanto I caught Misdreavius. A bit before I went to face the Gym Leader in Pewter City my parents sent me these Pokemon, only they were in eggs when I got them."

"Cool! Too bad I can't have cool foreign Pokemon~" Haneul mumbled, a small frown on her face.

"It's fine, the only reason why I really got them is because, I don't know, my parents sort of... shelter me... I guess. And plus, my family has lots of money so it's nothing new..." Lakrymosa continued almost solemnly.

Haneul hesitantly looked to her friend, a questionable look on her face. "Isn't that... good?" she asked.

"...I guess. I just want my parents to see I'm capable of taking care of myself..."

"I see, so what are their names? Do you not nickname them?"

"No. I just stick to their regular names. But this is Meditite," she gestured towards the blue and white Pokemon that was meditating by her feet, a calm look on it's face. "And this is Drifloon." she pointed to the floating purple and yellow balloon-like Pokemon.

"Cool! That's so-!"

"Girls! It's time for supper! Come in and wash your hands." Iseul shouted, peaking out the back door with an apron and spoon.

"Coming!" Haneul exclaimed as both of them looked back to Iseul.

The girls smiled to each other and Haneul suddenly grabbed the other girls hand. "Lakrymosa, let's be best friends! Let's travel Kanto together and become Pokemon Masters! Okay?"

Lakrymosa looked to her friend with a shocked look, but then smiled wide at her. "Yeah, let's."


	5. Chapter 4 Part 1: A Days Rest

c h a p t e r **f o u r **p a r t** o n e **[a days rest]

___...x..x..x..x.._

I thought I was dead.

The first thing I remember was that everything stung, at least from what I could tell, and that I felt totally disorientated. That and the air. The air was dry but smelled sweet, like sugar.

Was this heaven?

If so I'd say it was a bit disappointing, I mean, heaven isn't suppose to hurt. At least I thought so. But like I said, I _thought _I was dead.

When I tried opening my eyes the light that flooded my sight was blinding and in reflex I brought my hand up to shield myself, but my hand didn't move, only a sudden stinging. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried again and still, I felt only a stinging rushing in my shoulder. I groaned and my lips stung, my tongue flicking over them to feel that they were chapped and split in about two places. A small moan of dissatisfaction erupted from the back of my throat.

Now I was sure this wasn't heaven.

Murmurs met my ears and I opened my eyes, squinting all the while to the troublesome light. Though I made out a roof and found myself in a comfy bed, a lamp and side desk to my left and a window to my right showing the threatening darkness along with a thick frost covering a majority of the window. A whistle of wind rang out and I heard trees outside being forced against by the blizzard that was still waging on. Then it all came back to me.

_"Thank you so much Dragonair... don't worry. I will get you help, just hold on, please..."_

_"I do! Quick, the faster we get it on the faster we get to a Pokemon Center."_

_"I'm sorry Raichu! This is all my fault, I hope you forgive me. I was too stubborn... I'm sorry..."_

_"Come on Aoi! You have to wake up! It can't end here!"_

_"Haneul! Haneul! Where are you Haneul!"_

I gasped and jolted up from the bed, immediately pain coursed through my body and I let out cry and fell back down, a small whimper coming from my mouth. The murmurs I heard got louder and the sound of footsteps began, the door to the room I was in suddenly opening. My gaze wandered over to a man who stood there, he was tall and wore a black t-shirt and baggy blue jeans, his dark hair, wild and unkempt was placed in a small ponytail which accented his hazel eyes. Behind him was a woman about the same age or younger, long brown hair in a braid and dark green eyes placed on me as she held onto her apron which was placed over top her blue shorts and orange t-shirt. "You're finally awake..." the woman spoke in almost a whisper, a sigh of relief shortly followed after.

"We were afraid you wouldn't wake up. It's good to see you're conscious though." the man stated, offering a kind smile.

I was scared of this whole situation to say the least, I didn't know where Raichu was, nor Aoi and Haneul. What had happened after I had passed out? Where was I? Who were these people? Where were my friends? So many questions running through my head, so many possible outcomes, so many _horrible _outcomes... all these thoughts were so fearful, yet the simple smile this man offered, it comforted me greatly. I tried again to get up yet my strength was gone and replaced by pain, jolts running through my body. With a grunt I fell back onto the bed. The man and woman rushed to my bedside. "No, no, no! You shouldn't get up now! You're too weak, you have to rest!" she spoke hurriedly, pushing me down as I tried once more to get up.

"Where am I?" my statement came out hoarse and I coughed at how dry everything was.

The man smiled kindly once again to me. "Your at our house of course!" the woman spoke again, a ditsy smile coming across her face.

I sweat dropped at her statement. "What she means is, is that you're safe here. You're on Route 217." the man stated simply, correcting the woman as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Nodding slowly I took another glance around the room and shifted uncomfortably underneath the sheets, it was too dry. "Where are my friends?" I asked suddenly, my voice still hoarse yet raised in fear.

The man placed a hand on my head and offered another smile. I couldn't help but let the worry in my eyes melt like ice to fire. "Your friends are safe and here with us, along with your Pokemon." he replied as I gave a sigh of relief. "My name is Joshua by the way, and that's Elizabeth." he gestured towards the brunette woman.

"Hello!" she said cheerily, waving.

"It's nice to meet you both, my name is Lakrymosa." I replied, nodding to the both of them.

"It's nice to meet you Lakrymosa!" Elizabeth said once more, the cheery look upon her face never leaving.

"So, might I ask. What happened?"

"Well we found you and your friends on Route 216, fainted in the snow. You're lucky we found you all otherwise you all would have frozen to death. But after we found all of you we managed to bring you to our house here on Route 217." he spoke, a somewhat concerned look on his face.

"Ah." was my only reply, a thoughtful look coming across my face. It only seemed like moments ago I was lying in the snow, my skin feeling like it was burning off. "Thank you a lot. I'm very grateful for you both saving us."

"Oh, it's nothing!" Elizabeth smiled, crossing her arms across her chest with a satisfied look on her face.

"Might I ask, how long have I been asleep?" I questioned, my tongue flicking over my chapped lip again.

"You've been asleep for a day and a half about." Joshua replied calmly.

"A whole day!" I jolted up once more to only be pushed down by Joshua.

"Calm down, you shouldn't stress your body by trying to move. You have third degree frostbite on your left hand and second degree on your back, arms, ankles, and calves. It's best you don't move."

Frustration came across my face and I bit my bottom lip, wincing slightly as it stung. It was Elizabeth's turn to pat me, trying to comfort me as she could tell I was distressed from my current situation. She patted my leg gently as she sat down on the foot of the bed a gentle smile coming across her face. "It's okay sweetie. We got you fixed up real good and you should be able to move fine by tomorrow, though you should still keep it easy." she reassured me.

It was quiet for a minute or so as I had nothing to say, nor Elizabeth and Joshua as it seemed. It then dawned on me... "How about Aoi and Haneul? And Ampharos and Raichu? Are they okay?" I asked, glancing up at Joshua, a hopeful look on my face.

"You're friends.. well the Raichu is doing well, surprisingly is healing up fast and is now almost completely healed along with the Ampharos. Aoi and Haneul... well, I'm not too sure who is who..." he gave a small laugh. "But the girl with the brown hair, she's doing fine and surprisingly only has some second degree frostbite on her and her ankle is sprained.

"As for the girl with the black hair, she has only third degree frostbite on her legs... she won't be able to walk for a couple days..." he trailed off.

Mixed feelings came to me as I heard to news of my friends. I was glad Raichu was doing well along with Ampharos and Haneul, but Aoi... I sighed in dissatisfaction. This certainly will set us back by quite a bit... but most of all I hope that Aoi isn't hurting too much. "I see. Thank you both again, I'm truly grateful." I offered a smile to the two.

"It's no problem.." Joshua smiled back.

A crash was then heard in another part of the room, all of our heads turning to that direction. "What was that?" Elizabeth stood up.

"I don't know, wait here Lakrymosa." Joshua spoke, getting up quickly as the two rushed out of the room, leaving me alone.

Though even if I wanted to, I couldn't get up and leave. I'd just have to stay here and wait like Joshua said.


End file.
